Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 22 October 2019

Tue Oct 22 01:19:46 CAT 2019

 <http://www.bulls.co.zw/> Bulls.co.zw        <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw?subject=View%20and%20Comments> Views & Comments        <http://www.bulls.co.zw/blog> Bullish Thoughts        <http://www.twitter.com/BullsBears2010> Twitter         <https://www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe> Facebook           <http://www.linkedin.com/pub/bulls-n-bears-zimbabwe/57/577/72> LinkedIn          <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw?subject=Unsubscribe> Unsubscribe

Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 22 October 2019

 <http://www.nedbank.co.zw/> 

*  South Africa will soon announce CEO for crisis-hit utility Eskom - Ramaphosa

*  Fallout from Trump's trade wars felt by economies around the world

*  South Africa's rand flat against a subdued dollar

*  Maroc Telecom reports flat Q3 profit

*  Nigeria's Qua Iboe, Forcados crude oil exports to fall in December

*  Telecoms group Orange to sell subsidiary in Niger

*  Barrick Gold reaches deal with Tanzania over Acacia Mining

*  Shell Egypt to sell assets in Western Desert

*  Egypt's Qalaa Holdings to increase production capacity to 5.5 mln tons per year

*  African debt stabilising but region faces headwinds - IMF

*  Drugs firms reach $260m US opioid settlement

*  Brexit deal acceptable, says top Barclays banker

*  Asda's contract changes are 'just not fair'

*  American Airlines London flight diverted after 'chemical spillage'

*  Top fund manager forced to resign after BBC investigation

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

South Africa will soon announce CEO for crisis-hit utility Eskom - Ramaphosa

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that the government will soon announce a permanent chief executive for state-run Eskom, after the struggling power utility reintroduced rolling blackouts last week.

The crisis-hit utility, which produces more than 90% of South Africa’s electricity, has been hobbled by technical and financial problems, and implemented days of power cuts last week after a number of its generating units broke down.

On Monday Eskom said its 2,000 megawatt Hendrina Power Station had suffered a “multi unit trip”, but that the failure would not lead to nationwide electricity cuts as it had reserve capacity to rely on.

The firm did not give details about the cause of the breakdowns at Hendrina, one of its oldest coal-burning plants with more than 40 years in operation, only saying it was investigating the matter.

Eskom’s latest power cuts, just weeks before a credit review by Moody’s, highlights the challenge Ramaphosa faces in rescuing the firm, whose problems hurt his efforts to restore investor confidence and turn around a flagging economy.

In statement, Ramaphosa said the return of power cuts underscored the urgent need for action, and the government will do all it can to restore Eskom to viability and tackle its “daunting” level of debt.

The company’s debt stood at more than 440 billion rand ($29.79 billion) in 2018/19, when the company reported a mammoth 20.7 billion rand annual loss.

“We will soon be announcing the appointment of a permanent Eskom CEO who, together with a strengthened board, will be tasked with turning the entity around,” he said, adding the person would be guided by a special paper on Eskom which would also be released shortly.

Specific measures he highlighted included the long-planned restructuring of Eskom into three entities, improving Eskom’s credit rating and tackling the high levels of debt owed to the company by defaulting municipalities, government departments and individual customers.

Eskom said on Sunday that no power cuts were currently planned for Monday, though the power system remained constrained and they could be implemented at short notice if necessary.

The utility’s chairman and acting CEO, Jabu Mabuza, said last week that a new CEO for the company would likely be announced before the end of October.

Mabuza temporarily took on the executive role in May after Phakamani Hadebe resigned as CEO, citing personal reasons and the “unimaginable demands” of the position.

The utility has had 10 chief executives over the last decade.

($1 = 14.7721 rand)

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Fallout from Trump's trade wars felt by economies around the world

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The collateral damage of the United States’ trade wars is being felt from the fjords of Iceland to the auto factories of Japan.

Central bank governors and finance ministers traded grim tales of suffering economies at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank fall meetings in Washington this week. Some also noted how far U.S. policy had shifted from the 1940s, when Washington co-founded the IMF.

At that time, “the world economy had been hammered for over a decade by high tariff barriers, depression and war,” prompting then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau to champion a global economic system, World Bank President David Malpass told attendees at a session this week.

The U.S. message then, Malpass said, was: “First, there’s no limit to prosperity. Second, broadly shared prosperity benefits everyone.”

As the IMF’s gathering of 189 member-nations drew to a close, the unintended negative impacts of the trade wars were becoming clear, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said. “Everybody loses.”

The United States, the world’s largest importer, started a bitter tariff war with China, the world’s largest exporter, 15 months ago. U.S. President Donald Trump is also in the midst of renegotiating, and sometimes upending, trade relationships with many of Washington’s top trading partners.

The fallout will slow global growth in 2019 to 3.0%, the slowest pace in a decade, the IMF estimated this week.

This pain is not being shared equally. The United States remains the least exposed of the world's 20 largest economies to a drop in exports in part because of its massive domestic consumer spending base. (Here's a graphic that shows the impact of tariffs in the United States and around the world. tmsnrt.rs/2OZJQba)

EUROPE’S PAIN

The damage is being particularly felt in European countries which “rely on exports and are open to trade,” the European Union’s Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.

More than 40% of Germany’s GDP was derived from exports in 2018, the most of any major global economy. Uncertainty in the business community is widespread, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told reporters.

German trade group BGA recently revised down its growth forecast for German exports in 2019 to just 0.5%, from 1.5%. As a result, many companies are scaling back their investment plans, something that will have repercussions for years to come.

Scholz said concerns over Britain’s impending departure from the EU and the bloc’s trade dispute with the United States were clearly dampening global economic growth.

“The most important problem remains those factors that we cannot measure – specifically the reluctance to invest,” Scholz said.

The pain is being felt in countries that don’t rely on exports too, such as Iceland, which became the first developed economy to seek aid from the IMF after a 2008 banking collapse. Since then, it has rebuilt its economy in what’s been called a miraculous recovery. Now, that is threatened.

“We have become dependent on tourism,” explained Ásgeir Jónsson, the governor of Iceland’s central bank, with annual visitors growing five-fold to 2.5 million since the crisis. Foreign arrivals, however, have plummeted since the trade wars started, and are down 15.6% this summer from the year before.

Iceland, with a population of about 300,000, built foreign currency reserves on the back of the increase in visitors, he said, but those are dropping too.

Trade links between countries have led to a more peaceful world in recent decades, but recent experience shows “you can never take global trade for granted,” Jónsson said.

NO AMERICAN IMMUNITY

On Friday, Japan’s Cabinet Office, which helps coordinate government policy, downgraded its assessment of factory output in October.

The softness in production was largely due to car exports to the United States turning weaker, after growing steadily until the spring, a government official said at a briefing.

“The pick-up in global growth is being delayed,” Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said. “Japan’s economy is seeing exports weaken significantly and that’s affecting factory output.”

The United States hasn’t been immune from the impact of the trade wars. American farmers have been particularly hurt by Chinese tariffs on U.S. agricultural products, prompting the Trump administration to give billions in aid to the farm belt.

Washington’s imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs and uncertainty about passage of a new North American free trade deal - the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement - have also stalled local economic development.

Christopher Cabaldon, the mayor of West Sacramento, California, said bids for a $100 million infrastructure project in the city came in 80% higher than expected in part because of construction firms’ need to factor in higher costs and the risk of additional tariffs in the future.

“Even in small cities like my own, we see the impacts of trade. We have come to realize the deep integration of our local economies in the global system,” Cabaldon told Reuters ahead of the IMF and World Bank meetings.

“Most of my economic development plans ... are playing out on a global stage, not down the freeway.”

EMERGING MARKETS DISENGAGE

The trade tensions are helping to spur a push among African nations to create a more self-reliant continent. “We must take it upon ourselves to grow trade among ourselves,” said Ukur Yatani Kanacho, Kenya’s acting cabinet secretary for treasury.

Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo, the finance minister of Senegal, told reporters the U.S.-China trade tensions would affect African nations in the energy sector and cut funds available on financial markets. The dispute underscored the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, he said.

Other emerging markets are also coming under pressure.

“Ukrainian exporters faced worsened conditions in global commodity markets,” which drove down steel prices, said Kateryna Rozhkova, the deputy governor of the country’s central bank.

Making matters worse, “the intensification of geopolitical conflicts led to rising oil and natural gas prices in the world,” she said.

Bahrain’s Finance Minister Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said the Gulf region was also affected by trade tensions and the resulting slowdown in investment, although geopolitical concerns – about Iran, for example – were another major factor.

“Trade tensions create uncertainty and nobody is insulated from uncertainty,” he told Reuters.

Peru cut its 2019 economic growth estimate to 3% in August, from 4.2%, citing trade factors. Mexico is edging closer to a recession that its officials say might be more difficult to reverse than during the last downturn more than a decade ago.

“The Great Recession basically caught everybody by surprise, but economies were willing to cooperate and work together to pull it out,” Mexican Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said. “This slowdown is taking nobody by surprise, but there is very little appetite for cooperation.”

South Africa's rand flat against a subdued dollar

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand was flat against the dollar on Monday, holding around the gains made in the previous session.

The rand stood at 14.770 versus the greenback by 0639 GMT, at par with Friday’s overnight close in New York.

“There are no significant data releases today and the rand is holding firm, well below the R15.00/$ mark, as the dollar remains subdued,” Peregrine Treasury Solutions said in a note.

The rand had firmed on Friday after the government released a long-delayed plan for electricity generation to address crippling power cuts.

The re-introduction of rolling blackouts earlier in the week had hurt the currency. State-run power firm Eskom said on Sunday there were no cuts planned for Monday.

Government bonds slipped slightly, with the yield on benchmark 2026 instrument rising 1.5 basis points to 8.255%.

Maroc Telecom reports flat Q3 profit

RABAT (Reuters) - Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s largest telecoms operator, reported on Monday an adjusted third quarter profit of 1.625 billion dirhams ($170 million), up 0.4% compared with the same period last year.

The adjusted profit in the first nine months to end September rose 1.3% year-on-year to 4.6 billion dirhams, thanks to higher mobile data revenue and cost control, the company said in a statement.

The third quarter’s consolidated revenue rose to 9.46 billion dirhams, up 1% compared with the same quarter last year, thanks to an improved performance on the Moroccan market.

Revenue for the first nine months was up 0.9% to 27.3 billion dirhams.

Maroc Telecom operates subsidiaries in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Togo and the Central African Republic

The group’s customer base grew 10.6% to 67.6 million users, including 20.3 million in Morocco, by the end of September, it said.

Maroc Telecom, listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and Euronext in Paris, is 53% controlled by the United Arab Emirates telecoms group Etisalat

Nigeria's Qua Iboe, Forcados crude oil exports to fall in December

LONDON (Reuters) - Exports of Nigeria’s Forcados and Qua Iboe crude oil streams will fall in December, according to loading programmes.

Forcados will load 9 cargoes at a daily rate of 257,000 barrels down from 263,000 bpd in November.

Qua Iboe will load 7 cargoes at a daily rate of 215,000 bpd assuming a cargo size of 950,000 barrels. This is down from 8 cargoes in November at 245,000 bpd.

Loading programmes for other grades also began to trickle out. Escravos will load 6 cargoes, Agbami will have four, Amenam three cargoes and Yoho will have one in December.

Telecoms group Orange to sell subsidiary in Niger

NIAMEY (Reuters) - French telecoms group Orange is selling its business in Niger, a company spokesman said on Sunday.

Orange Niger spokesman Roni Alhassane said discussions were ongoing with the buyer, Zamani Com S.A.S., to settle debts owed to creditors and unpaid taxes.

Orange’s operations in Niger have been hit by difficult market conditions. In February, Orange said it was considering all options for the business and that a Niger court appointed an expert earlier this year to examine its situation and support its negotiations with creditors.

Barrick Gold reaches deal with Tanzania over Acacia Mining

(Reuters) - Barrick Gold Corp said it had reached a deal to settle a long-running tax dispute between Tanzania and mining group Acacia, which Barrick bought in a $1.2 billion transaction approved by a British court last month.

The tax deal includes the payment of $300 million to settle outstanding tax and other disputes, the lifting of a concentrate export ban, and the sharing of future economic benefits from mines on a 50-50 basis, Barrick said in a statement on Sunday.

“Barrick is definitely back in Tanzania,” Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow told reporters in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial capital on Sunday.

“A true partnership can only be described when you have 50/50 and our joint venture with the government of Tanzania is exactly that - a committed partnership to develop Tanzania’s gold assets for the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Bristow.

A new operating company named Twiga Minerals will be formed to manage the Bulyanhulu, North Mara and Buzwagi mines after a review by Tanzania’s attorney general, the statement added.

Under the agreement, the Tanzanian government will also buy a 16% shareholding in each of the mines.

“This company has been registered in Tanzania and it will be headquartered in Mwanza, Tanzania,” Palamagamba Kabudi, Tanzania’s foreign minister said.

Kabudi, speaking at the news conference, said the deal marked a new partnership with Barrick under the new Twiga Minerals name.

“Twiga will make our new partnership an example to other mining ventures who are investing in Tanzania and who want to invest in Tanzania.”

He said details of the deal would be submitted to the country’s attorney general for review and he expected that to be completed by November 15.

An Africa-focused international dispute resolution framework will also be established as part of the agreement, Barrick said.

The deal comes days after the Canadian company fell short of analysts’ estimates for third-quarter gold production due to low output at its North Mara mine in Tanzania.

Shell Egypt to sell assets in Western Desert

CAIRO (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell plans to sell its onshore upstream assets in Egypt’s Western Desert to focus on expanding its Egyptian offshore gas exploration, Shell Egypt said on Sunday.

Having won three oil and two gas concessions in Egypt last February, senior executive last week told Reuters that the company would start operating the new areas in the second half of next year.

“We remain committed to Egypt and see our future in supporting the government’s energy hub vision by growing Shell positions across the offshore and LNG value chain,” Wael Sawan, Shell upstream director, said in a statement.

“This is where we can best leverage our expertise, deliver the strongest added value to Egypt and optimise our portfolio to ensure the company delivers a world class investment case.”

Shell Egypt Chairman Khaled Kacem said that he expects talks with potential buyers of the Western Desert assets to start in the final quarter of this year.

Egypt's Qalaa Holdings to increase production capacity to 5.5 mln tons per year

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s Qalaa Holdings, one of the country’s largest investment companies, will operate 100% of its refinery units in January and increase its refinery production capacity to 5.5 million tons per year, the company’s chairman told Reuters.

Ahmed Heikal also said the company will offer shares of Taqa Arabia and Arab Refining Co in Q2 and Q4 2020 on the stock market, without giving details of the quantity of shares to be sold.

African debt stabilising but region faces headwinds - IMF

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Sub-Saharan Africa’s public debt load is stabilising but the region’s economies face mounting headwinds due to slowing global growth that will weigh on exports, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday.

The IMF has previously warned of the continent’s rising debt burden, largely the result of borrowing to plug gaping budget deficits in mineral- and oil-producing countries that followed commodities and crude oil slumps.

In its regional economic outlook, the Fund said public debt as a percentage of GDP had settled at about 55% on average.

“What we’ve seen overall in the region is, by and large, debt levels beginning to stabilise,” Abebe Aemro Selassie, director of the IMF’s African Department, told Reuters.

“Going forward I expect it to remain stable provided countries implement the budgets that they’ve formulated.”

Still, seven countries - Eritrea, Gambia, Mozambique, Congo Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan and Zimbabwe - are in debt distress, the IMF said. Nine others including Ethiopia, Ghana and Cameroon are at high risk of debt distress.

“NOT UNAFFECTED”

The IMF projected regionwide economic growth of 3.2% this year, trimming an April forecast of 3.5%. It sees growth accelerating to 3.6% next year compared to its April projection of 3.7%.

Those forecasts are more optimistic than World Bank projections released this month.

The Fund blamed the downward revision on suppressed global growth linked to trade tensions between the United States and China as well as output disruptions in African oil-exporting countries and weaker than expected growth in South Africa.

“The region is not unaffected by what’s going on globally,” Selassie said.

The continent’s most developed economy, South Africa is expected to grow just 0.7% this year and 1.1% in 2020, according to the report. Leading oil exporter Nigeria will grow 2.3% this year and 2.5% next.

The region’s third biggest economy, Ethiopia, which is pursuing an ambitious reform programme under Nobel Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, is on track to record growth of 7.4% this year, the Fund said. That will slow slightly to 7.2% in 2020.

More generally, non-resource intensive African economies are expected to grow at an average of 6% this year, nearly three times faster than the continent’s oil producers and more than twice as fast as other resource exporters.

The IMF projects inflation in the region to ease to 8% in 2020 from 8.4% this year. But, as with GDP growth, there are wide differences across countries.

Drugs firms reach $260m US opioid settlement

Four drugs companies have reached a $260m (£200m) deal with two Ohio counties over their role in fuelling the US opioid crisis.

The agreement averts a trial that had been scheduled to start in Cleveland.

The counties had been seeking billions from Israel-based drugmaker Teva and drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.

A trial for Walgreens Boots Alliance, which had also been accused, will be rescheduled.

The last-minute deal was announced on Monday by the judge overseeing the trial in Cleveland.

Talks over a bigger settlement, which would have resolved claims brought by thousands of other cities, counties and states, had collapsed on Friday.

The companies, which have denied wrongdoing, are accused of ignoring suspicious orders and downplaying the risks of opioid painkillers, which have been linked to about 400,000 overdose deaths in the US between 1997 and 2017.

In Monday's deal, they did not admit guilt. But McKesson Corp, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Corp agreed to pay $215m, while Teva is paying $20m and will contribute $25m worth of treatment medication.

Later on Monday, Teva also said it had reached an "agreement in principle" for a global settlement, which would see it pay $250m and donate treatment medication worth an estimated $23bn over 10 years.

Johnson & Johnson settles over opioids with Ohio

What are opioids and what are the risks?

The case involving Ohio's Summit and Cuyahoga counties had been closely watched as the first of thousands of similar ones to go forward.

The two jurisdictions have already struck deals worth more than $66m with firms that include Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma and Allergan.

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish called Monday's deal "a very good development" that will provide money for recovery programmes and other assistance.

"This settlement helps us address the mitigation of the terrible damage that's been caused," he said. "There's still more to go. And we're going to continue to work on it."

The opioid crisis cost the US more than $630bn from 2015 through 2018 in healthcare and policing expense, lost income and other costs, according to recent estimates by the US Society of Actuaries.--BBC

Brexit deal acceptable, says top Barclays banker

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal is "acceptable" and the country should push ahead with it, leading banker Sir Ian Cheshire has said.

Sir Ian, chairman of Barclays' UK operations, told the BBC that business leaders wanted to see certainty.

He added that it was "extremely unlikely" further negotiations with the EU would produce a different outcome.

However, some UK business groups were more sceptical, with one calling it "a step backwards for frictionless trade".

Confidence suffering

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Sir Ian said: "No deal is perfect, but this deal is actually doable,

"It is, I think, very frustrating to see what appears to be a protracted process when most business leaders would like to see some certainty and get on.

"The chances of yet another round of negotiations are extremely unlikely to yield anything significantly different and now the delay is beginning to affect consumer confidence, particularly investment confidence, and I think we have to push ahead and make the best of what we've got coming down the track."

However, Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, questioned Mr Johnson's deal.

He told the BBC: "What our members want most of all is the chance to scrutinise it. You wouldn't buy a house having only one week's notice of what the terms look like. You'd want a survey, you'd want to send in the experts, you'd want to know what the structure was and we think that's important now.

"We want to see the government's economic impacts and then we'll make a proper judgement."

'Inferior' deal

Mr Wright also expressed reservations about the impact of the deal on Northern Ireland.

"Many of my members already think that the changes in Northern Ireland will make it too expensive for them to do business between Great Britain and Northern Ireland under the terms that may come," he said.

"And the political declaration has all sorts in it which is aspirational, but we need to know what we're going to look at in terms of trade deals and in terms of regulatory alignment and we're worried on both those counts."

The chief executive of manufacturers' organisation Make UK, Stephen Phipson, said Mr Johnson's deal was "inferior in many respects to the deal we had with Theresa May's withdrawal agreement".

"This problem of uncertainty is really quite critical now," he told the BBC.

"We're seeing about 70% of manufacturers in the country not investing at the moment and critically, those European customers not coming to us for new orders."

The comments from business leaders came as the pound fluctuated in the first trading session since Saturday's vote by MPs to delay approval of the Brexit deal.

Sterling fell by 0.6% against the dollar at first, but then recovered to hit a five-and-a-half-month high as it climbed above $1.30.

Currency analysts say they expect the next strong movement in the pound to be when the Brexit deal is voted on in Parliament.

However, after Saturday's vote, many believe a no-deal Brexit is now less likely. US investment bank Goldman Sachs, which issues regular updates to its clients, now thinks there is a 5% chance of a no-deal Brexit, down from 10% previously.--BBC

Asda's contract changes are 'just not fair'

Cathy Murphy has worked at Asda for more than four decades.

Cathy Murphy has worked for Asda for the last 44 years and says it has been an "absolutely amazing employer".

However, recently the supermarket chain told Ms Murphy she will be fired unless she signs up to a new contract that will strip her of her long-service benefits, paid tea breaks and Bank Holidays off.

She is one of thousands of employees who have been told to sign the new contract before 2 November or leave the business. But Ms Murphy describes it as "just not fair".

The GMB union says up to 12,000 workers face a choice between signing the new contracts - which increase wages to £9 an hour but scrap many other perks - or being sacked in the run up to Christmas.

But Asda told the BBC: "This contract is an investment of more than £80m and increases real pay for over 100,000 colleagues."

Asda contract protesters deliver petition to HQ

Asda offers pay rise for 'flexible' work

Despite this, Ms Murphy worries for night shift staff who will have their pay cut, as well as people with caring responsibilities who may struggle with the new contracts.

Ms Murphy works in the fruit and vegetable section at Asda's Parkhead Forge store in Glasgow.

As a union representative, she has been aware of the contract changes since the spring. However, her colleagues at the store only found out through meetings with managers over the summer.

Workers were given a document, which said they would have private meetings - or one-to-ones (121s) - with management.

"As part of the 121 process we hope that you agree to move to the new contract," Asda said in the document. "If you still don't want to sign up to the new contract at your final 121 we will issue you notice to terminate your employment."

It said staff who had not signed the new contract would "leave the business" at the end of their notice period.

Then, earlier this month, Asda bosses handed out a leaflet with tips on getting a new job.

It suggested staff use their local job centre, get an an email address and offered advice on CV writing. Ms Murphy called the leaflets "condescending".

It is not the first time that Asda has tried to move staff onto flexible contracts.

'Highly competitive industry'

In 2017, the supermarket chain offered workers a salary increase in exchange for voluntarily switching to a new contract that introduced unpaid breaks and a requirement to work over Bank Holidays.

But over the summer, those changes were made compulsory.

The GMB union has written to the supermarket chain, which is owned by US retail giant Walmart, asking it to delay the introduction of the new contracts.

"On November 2nd, we understand up to 12,000 of your loyal Asda workers will be given the sack - just before Christmas," it said in a letter sent over the weekend. "That can not be right."

But Asda says the vast majority of staff have signed up to the new contract.

"We have been clear that we don't want any of our colleagues to leave us," a spokesman said, explaining that the changes would help the chain "adapt to the demands of the highly competitive retail industry".

Ms Murphy thinks the chain will go through with its threat to fire the rest but she says it is unfair after giving more than four decades to the supermarket chain.

"I'm coming to the end of my working life," she says. "And for this to happen [now], it's just not fair.

"It's not fair at all."--BBC

American Airlines London flight diverted after 'chemical spillage'

A London flight to Philadelphia has been diverted to Dublin after reports of a "chemical spillage" on board.

American Airlines said two crew members and one passenger went to hospital "for evaluation" after flight AA729 from Heathrow landed at 13:15 GMT on Monday.

Airbus A330-300 landed due to an odour "caused by a spilled cleaning solution in the galley", it added.

One passenger wrote on Twitter that the spillage "led to [a] sickness outbreak and an emergency landing".

Another passenger reported noticing "noxious smells" on board the flight.

An audio clip has appeared online, purporting to be a recording of a conversation between the pilot and an air traffic controller.

In it, the pilot is heard to say that two cabin staff had "actually lost consciousness" after being exposed to the cleaning product.

"I'm told it is not a toxic substance," he added.

The Irish Aviation Authority said it does not release such conversations and was therefore "not in a position to authenticate it".

A spokeswoman for Dublin Airport said that the flight had been diverted "for a medical emergency".

"As per standard operating procedures there was a full turn-out of Dublin Airport's emergency fire services," she added.

American Airlines said the flight had been rescheduled to leave Dublin on Tuesday morning and that all passengers had been offered free hotel rooms for the night.

Meanwhile, a second of the airline's transatlantic flights was also diverted to Dublin on Monday, where it was met by emergency vehicles.

The airline said flight 787, from Paris to Charlotte in North Carolina was diverted after a passenger fell ill.

The passenger was taken from the plane for treatment and the flight is scheduled to depart later on Monday, a spokeswoman added.--BBC

Top fund manager forced to resign after BBC investigation

One of the world's leading fund managers has been forced to resign after the BBC discovered he had broken investment rules.

Mark Denning helped to manage more than $300bn (£229bn; €265bn) of investors' money at Capital Group.

BBC One's Panorama uncovered evidence that suggests he was secretly acquiring shares for his own benefit in some of the same companies as his funds.

Mr Denning, who had worked at the firm for 36 years, denies any wrongdoing.

The 62-year-old fund manager left his job five days after Panorama wrote to Capital Group about the findings of its investigation.

Capital Group - which manages almost $2 trillion of assets - said Mr Denning was no longer with the firm.

"We have a Code of Ethics and personal investing disclosure requirements that hold our associates to the highest standards of conduct. When we learned of this matter, we took immediate action," it said.

Fund managers are not supposed to invest in the same companies as their funds, because they could potentially profit at the expense of investors.

This is because their size means the funds can drive up a company's share price when they invest. The fund manager could use this power to push up the share price in the companies where they have personal investments, rather than picking the companies that offer the best returns for investors.

Leaked documents

The Panorama investigation discovered that shares were bought on Mr Denning's instructions through a secretive fund based in Liechtenstein.

It was called Morebath Fund Global Opportunities.

Leaked documents show the Morebath fund had invested in a medical research company called Mesoblast, an Indian film company called Eros International and a gold mining company called Hummingbird Resources.

Capital Group funds also invested in all three companies, and the investments in Mesoblast and Eros were made by funds that Mr Denning himself helped to manage.

In the case of Hummingbird Resources, Mr Denning appeared to have another potential conflict of interest as the company was set up and run by his son-in-law.

Conflict of interest

Media caption"If there was an intention by the fund manager to financially benefit themselves, that does raise serious concerns."

An expert on the financial rules told Panorama that the private purchases by Mr Denning could represent a serious conflict of interest.

Michael Ruck, investigations partner at the law firm TLT, said: "The whole point behind the regime, in relation to declaring conflicts of interest, is to protect investors.

"If there was an intention by the fund manager to financially benefit themselves, then that does raise serious concerns in relation to their actions."

The stakes in the three companies were ultimately held through an offshore entity called the Kinrara Trust. It was set up and controlled by Mr Denning.

'Complied with duties'

Mr Denning's lawyers deny that he owns the shares in the three companies because they say he is not a beneficiary of the Kinrara Trust.

"Our client did not declare his interest in the Kinrara Trust to his former employers because he had been irrevocably excluded as a beneficiary. He believed that he had complied with all of his relevant duties."

Mr Denning's lawyers say he received bad advice. They also say the Morebath fund had an independent asset manager and fund administrator.

However, Panorama has seen evidence that Mr Denning was behind the share purchases in the three companies and documents show the Morebath fund was regularly included in a summary of his personal assets.

Mr Denning appears to have named the Liechtenstein-based fund after the village of Morebath in North Devon. He owns a nine bedroom house, Morebath Manor, and 21 acres of parkland in the village.

The fund manager also owns luxury homes in Chelsea and the Bahamas.

Controversial energy deal

Mr Denning used to work for Capital Group in London and was approved by the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority until 2018.

However, four of the funds he managed were aimed at American investors and he had been working from the company's office in Los Angeles.

Panorama also discovered that the Kinrara Trust owned Kinrara International - a company that profited from a controversial energy deal in Senegal.

Kinrara International made $22m after the exploration rights to a huge gas field off the Senegalese coast were sold to BP.

Experts have told Panorama that they believe Mr Denning should also have declared this - because Capital Group had investments in BP and another company involved in the deal called Kosmos Energy.

Mr Denning's lawyers say he has never been a legal or beneficial owner of Kinrara International.--BBC

INVESTORS DIARY 2019

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Companies under Cautionary

Bindura Nickel Corporation

Padenga Holdings

Delta Corporation

Meikles Limited

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

(c) 2019 Web: <http:// www.bulls.co.zw >  www.bulls.co.zw Email:  <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell: +263 77 344 1674

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears

Telephone:    <tel:%2B263%204%202927658> +263 4 2927658

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 719 441 674

Alt. Email:              <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw 

Website:                <http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNH8LYgdY55h-XKseuM8Kpr-JKdfhQ> www.bulls.co.zw

Blog:                      <http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw%2Fblog&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFoIy6F9IXAiYnSoPSgWDYsr8Sqtw> www.bulls.co.zw/blog

Twitter:                 @bullsbears2010

LinkedIn:              Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

Facebook:              <http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimbabwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA> www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:                  Bulls.Bears 

Whatsapp Group:   <https://chat.whatsapp.com/CF6wllAfScU9Wr6dXxoQnO> Click Here to Join

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20191022/37d8124e/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 42384 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20191022/37d8124e/attachment-0005.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 34707 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20191022/37d8124e/attachment-0006.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 33009 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20191022/37d8124e/attachment-0007.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 30736 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20191022/37d8124e/attachment-0008.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3256 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20191022/37d8124e/attachment-0009.jpg>